For the ultimate wave challenge surfers head to Hawaii. For ultimate mountains hikers head to Nepal. And for the ultimate rock climbing wall? For that one must go to the north of Holland.

It is there, in the city of Groningen, that daring climbers take on The Excalibur at the Bjoeks Klimcentrum.

The climbing wall at the Bjoeks Klimcentrum (which we assume is Dutch for “French Fry” based on the look of the wall) is the world’s tallest. It towers 37 meters (121 ft) above the ground! The height alone provides a challenge, especially when the winds are whipping across Holland’s flat countryside. But what can really make a climb of Excalibur difficult is the overhang towards the top — it curves 11 meters (36 ft) out from the base!

Conveniently, the Bjoeks Klimcentrum is open daily until 11pm and has other facilities that will appeal to beginning and intermediate climbers. There’s an array of indoor climbing walls, including one designed for first-timers and another that’s at a 45 degree angle. There’s also a large indoor-outdoor bouldering area with 117 big rocks to scamper over (or, if you are in a cheating mood, around).

It doesn’t take much time at the Bjoeks Klimcentrum, though, to turn your thoughts towards attempting a summit of Excalibur. We encourage you to give it a try . . . after taking special note of our Terms of Service that indemnifies this website from any injuries that may result.

Where to stay: Groningen has the standard range of business and tourist-class hotels but it also has a fantastic cheapie, Bud Gett, with dorms beds available for €25 and private doubles for €27.50 per person.

Sharing is nice:

Responses

I can’t even begin to imagine climbing that beast. That’s seriously terrifying. I work with spectrumsports.com and we build mobile climbing walls. Thinking of building that is just insane, much less climbing it. What an incredible achievement!

It doesn’t mean ‘French Fry’, it means “Bjoeks (I don’t know if this means something) climbing centre”. And Belgians say they invented the fries (haven’t checked history), so they are actually Belgian fries, so no way for such a name you assumed